Batman Origins
by aaronroman
Summary: Joe Chill, the killer of Thomas and Martha Wayne has been released early from prison thanks to Carmine Falcone. Chill joins Falcone, Mr. Freeze, The Penguin & a host of others to bring down Wayne Enterprises. Perhaps the only way Bruce Wayne can stop them is if he uses the "inheritance" his father left for him. He also has close friends Alfred, Jim Gordon, a& Lucius Fox to help.
1. The Waynes

Note: Sorry if the beginning is slow. I am trying to set a foundation of who the Waynes are and what Wayne Enterprises does.

Thomas and Martha Wayne welcome newborn Bruce into the world. The Wayne family has always been known as the first family of Gotham City. The Waynes have historically given back to their beloved city and have done all they can to keep it safe.

Thomas and Martha bring up Bruce to be kind, humble, generous person as they all have been. Bruce grew up knowing they were wealthy but never flaunted it. He was a very well rounded and grounded kid.

Bruce's two closest friends have been Tommy Elliot and Selina Kyle. At times the three were inseparable. Both boys were aggressive and drive by nature. The boys' fathers were very powerful and smart. They worked hard and their generosity and how they cared for the less fortunate made them two of the most respected men in Gotham City. The boys were always smarter and more mature for their age.

Selina often dreams about being married to one of them and being a powerful trophy wife. Her family was not nearly as well off as the Elliots and Waynes so she often stole things from her friends' residences so she could feel as rich and powerful as them.

There were times either boy liked Selina, times they both liked her, times she liked one or both, but never a time where she was "just" friends with the boys. But she always seemed to like the more edgy friend. She always teased them that whichever boy proposed to her first she would marry but it had to be a grand proposal with a huge, public scene. Since Tommy seemed to like Selina a lot more than Bruce he was always doing more outlandish things to get her attention and admiration. Some of things he did scared Bruce, Selina, and even kids' parents. This led to Tommy beginning to see renowned psychologist Hugo Strange at the young age of 10.

Growing up there were two lessons Thomas always taught Bruce. One, you are defined by not what happens to you in life, but how you react to what life does to us. It's not about the action but the reaction. You might not be responsible for the action but you are always responsible for the reaction. The second lesson is that when you are forced to react to life it will bring you to a fork in the road. Take a mental snapshot at that moment and realize you will always look back at this moment, this defining moment and know which ever road you take will now define the rest of your life.

When Thomas is not around to remind Bruce of the lessons, their estate's caregiver, Alfred is. Alfred and Thomas are the same age. It's very rare that someone in Thomas's position hires a friend or a peer in a subservient role. But the two have been best friends for over a decade and they wouldn't have it any other way.

Thomas is the CEO of Wayne Enterprises. This family company has developed over the generations. Whenever it branches out into a new field, it soon becomes the leader in that field. Right now Wayne Enterprises has two main divisions and many subdivisions within the respectable divisions. The first major division is medical. This is Thomas' specialty. Within the medical umbrella there is Wayne Medical, Wayne Medical Research, and Wayne Cytogenetics, among others.

The second division is technology. Thomas's right hand man, Lucius Fox is head over the technology division. Within that division is Wayne Security, Wayne Technology, Wayne Defense and Wayne Communications. Wayne Enterprises has made key partnerships with local businesses and areas of government so they can offer than knowledge and money.

The technical division has partnered up with GCPD to stay one step ahead of the criminal world. Companies and homes with Wayne Security have their surveillance uploaded to GCPD. So any break-ins are reported directly to GCPD and the video feed is instantly viewed at GCPD. Of course home and business owners can select which cameras can get linked to GCPD to save themselves privacy. All video is available to the home or business owner on their heavily secured personal networks.

Wayne Enterprises is the first private company to offer this law enforcement partnership. This made Wayne Enterprises one of the companies that made the 1980's the golden age of technology. This further cemented Wayne Enterprises as a respected leader in this industry. Local criminal organizations have seen their business go down. Other security companies, defense contractors and communication corporations have strongly considered taking Wayne Enterprises' lead and working more closely with GCPD and their local police.

Thomas made many friends within GCPD because of his close involvement. His closet friend was one of the beat cops who worked in the Wayne Enterprises neighborhood; an officer Jim Gordon. Jim's partner, Officer Flass didn't share his partner's friendship with the Waynes. He didn't want to "sell out" and schmooze with the rich people. Others that didn't share Gordon's fondness of the Waynes was Gordon's boss Harvey Bullock and even the commissioner, Gillian Loeb.

The medical division has partnered with the Gotham University Medical School and helped make it one of the world's leading medical schools. Wayne Medical has also partnered up with Gotham General and also made it among the world's top hospitals in research and cytogenetics.

Bruce wanted to work for his father but follow more in Lucius Fox's footsteps of technology and weaponry. Thomas then invested a lot in Tommy's father Roger who was the Chief of Surgery at Gotham General and CEO of Elliot Medical Research. Roger's expertise aided Wayne Enterprises in making Gotham General one of the leading hospitals.

Roger and Thomas planned on merging Elliot Medical Research with Wayne Medical Research and making Roger president over it. The long term plan was for Thomas, Roger and Lucius all retire at 50, give Bruce the CEO of Wayne Enterprises and president of Lucius's divisions and make Tommy president of all the Wayne Medical divisions and Bruce's right hand man. The boys couldn't wait for that day.


	2. A Chill and a Fries

Thomas has an appointment with wunderkind Dr. Victor Fries. Fries is a leader in cytogenetics which studies the development and structure of human cells. Fries has a passion for saving the environment and how a health environment will in turn make us healthy. Much of his research looks on the negative effects pollution has on our cells. He has developed a system that will "freeze" pollution before it exits buildings and cars. Any emissions would freeze in the system then exit the building or car in a cold mist.

Fries currently works for GothCorp. GothCorp is second in the field of cytogenetics. Wayne Enterprises is first. Fries believes he is the best in his field so he naturally wants to work for the best. But in the past Thomas Wayne has been reluctant to hire Dr. Fries due to his over zealousness to perfect the system without any strict safeguards to ensure the emission would always come out in a harmless mist form.

Wayne was concerned if Fries's system was tweaked just a little, it could shoot out a more forceful solution and in a liquid nitrogen form instead of the harmless mist. This could damage property, injury people and even cause an Ice Age since the systems are all linked and can be controlled by Fries. Fries does see Wayne's point but contends once he has enough organizations adopting his system he can put everything on hold and then develop the necessary safeguards.

Unfortunately, most CEO's and government officials side with Wayne. In their meeting Fries has promises Wayne if he hires him and only increases his grants by 15%, he will be able to install his system in a few smaller branches of Wayne Enterprises to prove it works. Then it can be adopted by 100% of Wayne Enterprises and then Fries will work on the safeguards. Thomas just can't take up Fries's offer. He has a nasty gut feeling about someone being able to rig the system to do more harm than good. Plus, of course Fries's anti-pollution system is extremely expensive. Fries leaves the meeting upset but hopeful if he pours more time and effort in making a working prototype the data will swing Thomas.

A disappointed Victor is consoled by his wife of 5 years, Nora. Nora has always believed in Victor. Although she often cautions him not to let his over-zealousness turn people off, she believes if he's given the right opportunity he will excel and become the world's leader in cytogenetics and anti-pollution. It's his wife's blind loyalty and support of Victor that keeps him going during the times he wants to give up.

One night, when Bruce was only 11 years old the Waynes participated in a charity event as they did many times. The charity event was at Wayne Hall located on the Gotham University campus. The event was for the University's efforts in bringing in the Dr. Victor Fries to work with their cytogenetics department to complete his anti-pollution system.

At the event Fries, with Nora holding his arm walks up to Thomas and offers a compromise. If Wayne hires him now, he will devote 40% of his funding to work on the safeguards. Thomas once again thanks Victor for his enthusiasm but feels once Fries can incorporate his system in GothCorp buildings with the safeguards, he will be first in line to adopt his system in a few of his companies and then his entire organization. Victor reminds Thomas that Wayne Enterprises is first in the industry and Wayne himself is head and shoulders a better boss than Boyle. The more passionate Victor gets, the more Nora taps him or tries to calm him and defuse the tension. Yet she still speaks on her husband's behalf.

Victor is concerned that Boyle is getting too friendly with new mob boss Carmine Falcone. Falcone's main business is a security company who is in direct competition of Wayne Securities. Victor fears if his system takes off and makes Boyle rich, it will also be a cash cow for Falcone. Thomas chuckles at Victor's concern and suggests Fries quits and works for Gotham University which is viewed as #5 in the world in the cytogenetics field. This sets off Victor more and he begins to create a scene. Thomas doesn't think this conversation should be had at the event and especially in front of his young son Bruce who often argued more and with more passion with Fries than Thomas has.

Thomas politely, but abruptly excuses his family due to Bruce's passion making more of a scene. The Wayne's discretely bow out of a side door so Bruce can calm down. As his parents try to calm Bruce down, a mugger approaches the Waynes. He holds them at gunpoint. Thomas and Martha instantly give the mugger their valuables. Fired up Bruce has no fear and shoves the mugger. The hot tempered and desperate mugger turns the gun to Bruce but both Martha and Thomas jump in front of the gun. Thomas pleads that they already gave him their valuables so they should be let go. Bruce says disagrees because the mugger needs to learn his lesson. Bruce bursts through his parents and starts kicking and punching the mugger. Bruce tells his dad that he is responsible for his reaction to this mugger's actions so Bruce is choosing to take the road of justice.

The mugger kicks the boy off to the side which infuriates Thomas. The elder Wayne goes to swipe at the mugger's hand to knock the gun out but the mugger reacts a beat quicker than Thomas and shoots Thomas in the chest. Martha screams in horror and to shut her up the gunman shoots her, claiming his second victim. Bruce runs over to his parents who both are fighting just to breathe. Thomas grabs Bruce to pull him close.

Thomas's last words to Bruce were "Your reaction to these actions will define you. Which road will you take? Don't go down the road that will eventually make you as desperate and cowardice as this man. If you choose the right road someday you will inherit a legacy I have set up for you that will make you the greatest Wayne of them all. I love you, son." Martha manages to break a smile to show she agrees with her husband. Thomas and Martha hold each other's hands while also embracing their now sobbing son.

The criminal takes a second to look in shock at what he's done and turns to flee the scene. He realizes he can't leave Bruce alive as a witness but he must kill him too. He goes to shoot Bruce but hears a horrifying screech overhead. He looks up to see an angry bat making a beeline straight for him. The bat attacks the mugger now turned murderer and leaves the thug in a bloody and staggering condition. The mugger begins to try to run away but the pesky bat is still biting him. The criminal doesn't get very far when Jim Gordon comes storming out of the Wayne Hall side door because he heard the gunshots.

Gordon was also at the charity event. Jim is horrified about what he sees but remains calm and calls in the murder. This is his first murder scene because crime was so low around his beat, Wayne Enterprises. His focus is a shocked Bruce; not his slain parents. Young Bruce can sense the compassion from Gordon but he can't hear anything he is telling him. His ears are still ringing for the two ill-fated gunshots and the even louder squealing that came from the bat. Even louder than the awful noises in his ears is the replaying of the ghastly scene in his head over and over and over again.

Through the fog he sees the flashing lights of the ambulance and the first GCPD squad car to arrive on the scene. It happens to be Bullock and Flass. Bruce never seemed to like to either man. In slow motion Bruce sees the man that took everything from him get strapped to a gurney and placed in an ambulance still shivering and weeping. Bruce can't help but get an eerie feeling as Bullock sits alongside of the gurney and appears to smirk at Bruce. Gordon senses Bruce's uneasiness and tells him not to worry about Bullock.


	3. Aftermath

At the funeral Bruce shows flashes of grief and anger. He has vowed many times to Alfred and Jim that he will have his vengeance. Commissioner Loeb was also there. And right by his side was Flass. Loeb leans down to talk to Bruce but his words were cold and void of sympathy. Loeb just seems to be looking out for his interest.

Alfred takes his friends' death extremely hard. He reminisces when he and Thomas met. They were 20 years old and there were at a charity event. Thomas was with his parents Kenneth and Catherine. The two young men met at the bar where Thomas was ordering a Coke. The bartender asked Thomas if he wanted something stronger because he certainly looked over 21. Thomas said he is 20 but he and his parents don't drink. They keep up appearances, not appear in the tabloids.

A voice coming up behind him said, "You don't hear someone your age turning down alcohol too often, especially where I'm from," the stranger said. Thomas answers, "Whoa, cool accent, London?" "Yup," was the Englishman's response. "Hi, I'm Thomas." Pleased to meet you." "I'm Alfred. The pleasure's mine, chap."

The two chat for 10 minutes but become instant friends. Alfred just finished his mandatory service from the British Royal Army, with high honors. They offered him a high ranking position but he said he didn't like the politics of it all. He wanted to make a difference behind the scenes, not on the battlefield. Out of appreciation they offered him one year working visa to anywhere in the world. They assumed he wanted work in the private sector at a respected security or weapons manufacturer but he wanted a break from it all and visit Gotham City.

Then a voice from behind yells to Alfred that his break is over. The figure appears with a tray of champagne and a towel. Alfred looks embarrassed. He tells Thomas he supposes that he doesn't want to be his friend anymore because he of the line of work he chose. He wanted a job as a waiter to see if he can become friendly with powerful business men that could make a difference for the needy. He still hasn't found anyone but of course, he hasn't been assigned to work a function that the Wayne's were at until now. Alfred thought that maybe Thomas would think he is only talking to him to get money from him for some cause. Bruce assures him he respects what Alfred is doing and maybe his father can find a job for him.

Thomas introduces Alfred to his father Kenneth who is instantly impressed. Thomas offers him a high ranking security and consulting job but Alfred promises that he has learned that in war it's the foot soldiers who are the most valiant. Alfred confides that he actually loves his job now so if he can do that for the Wayne's he would be happiest. Alfred is hired on the spot to be the caretaker of Wayne Manor.

Thomas and Alfred became inseparable. Neither thought Alfred was "lower" than the Wayne's. Every guest of the home boasted that Alfred is one of a kind.

Victor and Nora Fries also take the Wayne's death very hard, especially Victor. He knows Nora was trying to calm him that night but he ignored her. It was the combination of Thomas being laid back yet confident in his opinions, who he is and what Wayne Enterprises supports, mixed with the temper and passion of young Bruce that set Victor off. Victor sees a lot of himself in Bruce and Thomas but he is not used to hearing "No." Still he feels responsible for causing the scene that forced the Wayne's to step out of the building into death.

The Wayne deaths caused multiple shock waves throughout Gotham. Their killer, Joe Chill was dually seen as a coward by the general public who wanted him to get the death penalty but also seen as a hero to criminals. His one act inspired criminals to rise up and take from the spoiled rich which caused a spike in crime.

Commissioner Loeb was under a lot of heat for the rise in crime. He initially looked to new CEO of Wayne Enterprises, Lucius Fox to pour more money into GCPD; mainly the Organized Crime Division. Fox obliged and crime began to dip.

This dip in crime caused Carmine Falcone, who was taking over as the crime boss of Gotham City to make a bold move. He risked certain jail time by offering Loeb "a personal and professional lifetime of security if he was adopted into the Falcone Family." Loeb gave into the pressure. Falcone also bought Bullock, Flass and about ¼ of the GCPD. Judges and assistant district attorneys were bought. This brought crime to an all-time high.

The second shockwave was the overwhelming public support of Wayne Enterprises' work in defense, weaponry and technology. More investors flooded the company's bank account. Public sentiment was that Fox should invest more money and resources into his partnership with the GCPD.

Fox's response was upping the percentage of revenue from 50% to 65% to be invested in the Technology Division. More homes and businesses signed up with Wayne Securities. Gotham University felt responsible for not having Wayne Security as their provider during the murders so they quickly signed on to have Wayne Security secure their campus.

All of this public and private Wayne Security cooperation with the GCPD as a result of the rise of crime has forced the business that Falcone's security companies serve to request the same partnership. Falcone's companies offer cheaper prices but the technology is not nearly close to Wayne Enterprises'. People feel if GCPD was linked up with Falcone's security company it would offset the lack of technology. Falcone had to cave to save face.

This then cut some of Falcone's crime down in certain neighborhoods. It forced him to consolidate his fronts to fewer buildings or parts of buildings than he wanted. He can't exactly have certain of his own buildings and properties not linked to GCPD. But of course he chose which cameras he wanted linked up to GCPD. The other security companies followed suit in giving GCPD access to their security feeds so crime has gone down since Wayne Enterprises worked so closely with the GCPD.

As young Bruce enters his teens he remains close to Jim Gordon and has asked that Jim work in the Organized Crime Division so he could work with Fox. Due to his influence, even at a young age, Loeb made this happen. Falcone wanted Bruce to trust Loeb. But to keep their guys in the loop Bullock and Flass were also moved to Organized Crime. The former head of the division, Peter Grogan is still clean which, for the time being, is what Loeb and Falcone want to keep the Falcone GCPD officials safe from suspicion.

Overtime Fox and Gordon have gotten close. Alfred who is always trying to ensure Wayne Manor and its grounds are up to date with the best technology to keep young Bruce safe has also become closer with the two gentlemen.

The lessons his father has taught him usually comes to Bruce's memory when he goes through his relationship rollercoasters with childhood friends Tommy Elliot and Selina Kyle. At times the boys would fight over Selina. She always seemed to love it and played each boy off of one another. Selina was each young man's first love but she always seemed to go for the bad guy. Bruce and Tommy have always put their relationship over any relationship they had with Selina, but that was tested many times.

The Elliots and Kyles have been there for Bruce but nothing seems to help the pain his parents' death has caused. Selina only seems to be hanging out with Bruce when he is focused and driven. The times he needs a shoulder to cry on she finds an excuse to have her parents take her home or have Alfred come pick him up from her house.

Over time Tommy seems to be more jealous of Bruce than anything. Bruce has inherited his parents' fortune but Tommy still has to earn his allowance. Thanks to the work of Hugo Strange, Tommy doesn't act out anymore. At times when Tommy normally would act out he controls his emotions.

Everyone could tell when Tommy is fighting to keep his emotions under the surface, especially during competition or if he feels second string to Bruce, or if Bruce is getting too much attention or sympathy. But Bruce could tell whatever Tommy is suppressing is simmering and will someday erupt.

But since Tommy's parents are so pleased with Tommy's change, they want Bruce to see Hugo Strange to deal with his parents' death. Alfred agrees because he used to witness many of Tommy's outbursts, or at least had to clean up after them to know that Tommy is a lot better.

Bruce starts to see Strange but instantly doesn't like the creepy doctor. While in session, Strange is always pushing Bruce to bring out the darker, inner feelings of rage and vengeance to the surface. When Bruce is not in session, Strange wants Bruce to repress his feelings around others unless he really has to act on them. Strange doesn't fault Bruce for showing the emotions that caused him to lose his temper with Fries and the mugger, but Bruce needed to control them more; just like Tommy does.

Strange wants Bruce to accept that is who he is, but he must control the feelings until he needs them to come to the surface. Bruce needs to act first and attack, whether it's physically or by a decision. Bruce needs to recognize and accept that he will be a powerful man; more powerful than his father. Many people will be under him, but many rivals and enemies will try to attack him. He then will have to control or be ahead of any reactions. But a swift action from Bruce should be powerful enough to wipe out any possible reactions. Those times will call for Bruce to defend himself and what he believes in, no matter what he believes in. Strange is always talking about the vast progress he makes with Tommy.

Bruce also begins taking self-defense lessons to better control his rage and focus on defending then counter attacking, opposed to attack first. He needs to make his reaction be more powerful than the initial action. This mentality is against what Strange preaches to him, so many times Bruce is conflicted. Bruce still blames himself for his parents' death because he tried to attack instead of protecting his parents.

Bruce has the same drive and determination that every Wayne man seems to have. He vows for vengeance against Chill. He vows to make Wayne Enterprises more powerful than his dad could ever dream.


	4. Jealousy

Alfred, Jim and Lucius throw Bruce a huge 16th birthday bash. Bruce's big present is Ford Mustang. A trust fund that Thomas set up for Bruce is now available to him. Thomas trusted that Bruce would be responsible with the thousands of dollars that just became available to him. Bruce gives a thousand here and there to certain charities but gives a big chunk to GCPD to help them get better armor and weapons.

Bruce buys Selina a car. This upsets Tommy because he was planning on buying her a car. Tommy's allowance increased when he turned 16, a few months prior, but he doesn't have access to thousands Bruce now does. Tommy has a tough time not blowing up but Bruce is grateful he doesn't. Strange is happy Tommy hasn't erupted yet, but cautions Tommy that one day he will have to confront Bruce about his feelings about Bruce feeling he's better than Tommy.

Into his early 20's Bruce excels in his self-defense training and his dedication to charity and GCPD has raised national and international attention. Whenever he is interviewed he speaks highly and passionately of the charities and GCPD he works with. When his parents' death which seemed to upstart violence in Gotham City is brought up, Bruce becomes sinisterly angry. Because of his young age it seems to be excused.

While Bruce is concentrating on Wayne Enterprises and his training, Tommy and Selina have a more tries at dating. Tommy excelled in his medical studies at Gotham University which caused him to graduate early and first in his class. Just as Bruce was shaping up to be more intellectually superior to his father Thomas, Tommy was also promising to be superior to his father.

Selina is not interested in college or can't really seem to find a career. She often finds herself feeling like the outsider of the trio, but especially so when she is with Tommy and Bruce's rich friends. So knows she will never be "good enough" for the posh people so she still picks their pockets and jewels. But no one ever catches her or even suspects her because she is so loved by all.

Meanwhile suspicion of Comm. Loeb seems to rise at the same rate of crime. Falcone always seems to stay one step ahead of the GCPD. Fox encourages Bruce to focus on his studies at school and learn all he can about technology so upon graduating from Gotham University he can work alongside of him.

The general public doesn't really seem to suspect that Loeb and other high GCPD officials are dirty, but Gordon, Bruce and some other by-the-book officers begin to keep an extra careful eye on them. As Gordon flushes out the dirty cops and their criminal allies Bruce wants Gordon to be promoted to the head of the Organized Crime Division while Grogan be promoted to Loeb's second in command.

This gives Gordon and his trusted men the clearance to look further into Loeb, Mayor Hady and others they suspect are in bed with Falcone. They are also concerned about a new crime boss that is getting notoriety-The Penguin.

The ebb and flow of crime in the streets and within companies has caused a new avenue for criminals to dive into. The heightened security above ground has paved the way for underground hideouts and activity. The Penguin took the lead and is the underground crime boss. Using the sewers and abandoned subways, the more "blue collar" thugs avoid the above ground security cameras all around the city.

The Penguin's men wear dark hoodies that look like penguin heads. They conceal the hoods until they are about to strike. Penguin's second in command is Waylon Jones, aka, Killer Croc. Croc and his men wear crocodile hoodies. Croc himself wears a scaly wet suit. He is known as Killer Croc because he drowns his victims in the sewers, much like a crocodile would.

The Penguin actually is Oswald Cobblepot. Oswald owns a chain of hotels in the Gotham area and his crown jewel, The Cobble Hotel is across the street, south from Wayne Enterprises. The hotel has a casino known for its nightclub named The Iceberg Lounge. The Lounge is the biggest front for Cobblepot's organization. If Wayne Enterprises was no longer across the street, a bigger and better Iceberg Lounge could go in its place. Publicity, the clean appearing Cobblepot has been a rival of the dirty appearing Falcone since the Iceberg Lounge and Casino are the main competition of Falcone's clubs and casinos. But behind the scenes Falcone and Cobblepot are close associates.

Bruce, Tommy, and Selina often frequent the Iceberg Casino and Lounge. Selina is a regular singer in the club and her most popular song she does is "The Cat's Meow." She gets paid well but uses her earnings to gamble in the casino. On occasion she steals chips and jewelry from unsuspecting patrons. The cameras, victims, Tommy or Bruce have never caught her. She often is seen hanging around cocktail waitress Holly Robinson. The two often hang out after Holly's shifts. Holly tags along from time to time when Selina hangs out with Bruce and Tommy.

Back to the present, it's the 4th of July. Bruce rented the Presidential Suite of the Cobble Hotel with roof access. He throws a big Independence Day party for all his friends. Everyone is caught up in the fireworks when Tommy, who is extra hyped because this was his favorite holiday, proposes to Selina during the grand finale of the fireworks. He makes a big, grand scene and everyone, especially Selina is shocked. Selina and Bruce are secretly seeing each other for the past 6 months. Apparently Tommy felt Selina would always choose Tommy over Bruce. Since a girl she always said whoever proposed first with a grand public proposal would steal her away from the other. Tommy is banking on this, but it really isn't working out for him. Selina had a surprised and even embarrassed look on her face making it clear the answer was "no."

Bruce feels it was his duty to calmly pull Tommy aside to save what little face he had. Tommy thanks Bruce by punching him through a table. Tommy feels this is the appropriate time Strange was referring to when Tommy should confront Bruce. Tommy spews out jealous lies and accuses Bruce of not wanting anyone to be with Selina, even if he is not with her. This is just another example of Bruce thinking Tommy was his sidekick, his right hand man and not his equal. He thinks Bruce always needs a sidekick, someone less than him to boss them around and feel superior.

He claims ever since Bruce's parents died and he took over their empire, Bruce has thought he was better than Tommy. Tommy thinks Bruce will never bring him in his cooperation like their fathers and Lucius planned. Bruce assures Tommy nothing he was saying is true and offers to have Alfred pick him. Tommy takes offense to that says he has surgery in a few hours so he will drive himself to the hospital and cool down in a rest room.

While driving to Gotham General, Tommy gets more and more angry. The more angry he gets, the more he lets the rage he has been suppressing rise to the surface. Why does Bruce think he's better than him? Tommy is smarter and more talented than Bruce. Tommy's medical background is more important and needed in society than Bruce's background which does more to hurt or kill people.

Thomas Wayne was the CEO who really made Wayne Enterprises a global force. Fox is steering away from where Thomas was leading the corporation. Thomas made it a medical first cooperation but Fox is making it a technology first company. If Bruce is to follow in Fox's footsteps when Lucius retires at 50, the world will need more medical technology than weapons but Bruce won't recognize that. Tommy should take over Wayne Enterprises, not Bruce.

But what is done is done, right? Thomas died so his mind can't be changed. He left everything to Bruce. Thomas had more of a fortune that Tommy's dad has but Roger puts his towards the more important industry. Yet, Tommy is smarter than his dad. He has more potential. Tommy is better with investing. Roger trusts people too much and doesn't take risks in investing.

Tommy would turn Roger's hundreds of millions into many billions. Then Bruce wouldn't be the head honcho, Tommy would. Then no more of this Tommy stuff. The name Tommy is juvenile; Thomas if mature. Thomas Elliot will be better than Thomas Wayne. The only thing slowing that down is Roger and Marla Eliot. Tonight that ends. Selina and Bruce put a stop to Tommy's future of happiness tonight, now Tommy will put an end to his parents' future of controlling Tommy.

Tommy parks in his usual spot in the Gotham General Hospital. He goes straight to one of the many staff rest rooms. The rest rooms are one of the only areas in the hospital where the Wayne Security cameras aren't located since only medical staff has access to them. Tommy lets himself out of a window and ducks into the woods. There are no cameras outside of the building because there are no entrances to this section of the building and the woods is a few feet away.

On the other side of the woods is a parking lot near Wayne Hall on the campus of Gotham University. Tommy spots his parents car. They are celebrating the 4th at a huge ball. Tommy laughs at the fact that his parents will die after leaving Wayne Hall just like how Bruce's parents died. Conveniently the valet parked the Eliot's car in the back at the edge of the parking lot near the woods. The cameras don't pick up Tommy crawling under the front of the car and slicing the brake lines. He has to leave them enough brake power to get off the campus because they wouldn't pick up enough speed driving through campus.

Tommy then rushes back to Gotham General and lets himself back in the bed. Just as he slips the covers over him an intern named Peyton Riley walks in. She has had a crush on Tommy and saw him walk in about a half hour before. She thinks this would be a great night to make her move. Tommy knows she can now confirm his alibi that he was in bed the whole time. She is talented and very attractive so why not have a serious relationship with her? Selina turned him down. Maybe Riley will turn out to be Mrs. Thomas Elliot and be by his side as he rules Wayne Enterprises.

Roger Elliot gets a call from a concerned Bruce. No one has had to call Roger to calm down Tommy in years. Roger and Marla decide to leave the ball. Roger is going to drop off Marla at home, only 5 minutes away in the hills overlooking the hospital and university, then talk with Tommy at the hospital. The Elliots get to the front of Gotham Medical when a flashing ambulance is approaching the hospital in the opposite lane. Roger starts to add more pressure to the brakes to give the ambulance plenty of space. The brakes work for a couple of seconds but then cut out. The ambulance driver never sees the car because he is trying to get the dying patient into the hospital as soon as possible. Roger sharply turns the car to avoid the ambulance causing the car to flip over. On the second roll, it broadsides the ambulance, causing it to flip.

Tommy's surgery was in another hour but he is paged to perform life-saving surgery on the patient in the ambulance. Little does he know it was his parent's car that plowed into the ambulance. He is expecting them to stay a couple more hours at the ball but he sees his dad being rushed in. Why is here now? He was expecting to be notified in surgery that his parents died in a car crash.

Tommy quickly calls Bruce to see if he alerted his parents of his episode. Bruce said, "We all care for you, Tom and want what's best." Bruce thinks Tommy is frantic because Bruce told his parents about Tommy's outburst, but Tommy tells Bruce about the accident. Bruce is shocked but then is beyond shocked when Tommy says, "You did this Bruce, you killed my parents. If you didn't stay out of my business they would still be at the ball, not dead."

Of course this is working out more and more into Tommy's favor. Normally a surgeon wouldn't be allowed to operate on family but since Roger was so important to the hospital and Tommy was the second best surgeon, even with only 4 years of experience, he is allowed to work on his father. Everyone knows that Tommy is the only one able to save Roger.

Tommy puts on a grand show to try to save his father. Tommy thinks to himself, "Thomas Wayne, look out, I am coming for your company!" But in response Tommy hears Thomas Wayne's lesson about the fork in the road we all face when facing a decision that will define us. Tommy can hear his father, mother, Thomas and Martha, Bruce, Selina, everyone, plead, "Don't do it! Don't allow your own father to die! Save your father! Save him!" But Tommy decides to put a hush to all the voices. He lets his father die. As for his mother, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

At his parents' funeral, Commish Loeb gives the same robotic sympathy to Tommy as he did to Bruce. Everyone else is genuine. Since the Elliot's car burst into flames it was impossible to prove the brake lines were cut. Tommy got away with murder. Deep down inside Bruce, Selina and even Gordon thought maybe, just maybe Tommy had something to do with it but instantly don't give it more of their attention. No one would be capable of doing that. Plus Tommy had a rock solid alibi and his new girlfriend Peyton was able to verify it.


	5. Acceleration

Over the past few years under Gordon's leadership, the Organized Crime division has almost eliminated the rise of crime since the Waynes' death. But Falcone and his partners have become more impatient and desperate. They use Hady, Loeb, and Gordon's right hand man Bullock more in their operations. However, the good guys made up of Gordon, Grogan, Fox, and Wayne can never prove these city and police officials are dirty.

With these dirty men's help, Falcone is the top boss in the town and his main competition, yet close ally, The Penguin is second. Falcone decides to makes a bold move. He needs one of his guys to work at or even in Wayne Enterprises so he can bring it down from within. Falcone has one of his friends in the DA office secretly release Joe Chill early. Cobblepot instantly hires Chill and places him into one of his businesses, a cleaning company which he uses for his hotels and other businesses.

Wayne Enterprises uses the same cleaning company so Chill now has access to Wayne Enterprises. Falcone has a contact high up in Wayne Security named Frank Vito. Vito can make Chill a ghost throughout the building and computer system. Chill and anything within a 10 foot circumference of him will not appear on security cameras. His badge will say he is a custodial engineer in case he is approached. His alias will be on file when anyone is looking for that name in the system. Falcone and Boyle want Chill to steal proprietary information that Boyle can use for GothCorp and some of Falcone's fronts which include security and shipping. Chill can access any Wayne Enterprises file from a computer set up for him in a maintenance closet.

Since the Waynes' deaths, Victor Fries finally has seen his pollution freezing system go from a prototype to being a success in his own home and car. Smaller, private companies who allowed Fries to install his system at no charge have also seen resounding success.

One thing that is holding Fries back from getting more business is that he won't let anyone that works for him install or service the systems. He has to have control over them. This of course causes more concern for Fox and Wayne, which angers Boyle and Falcone who are already upset that Fries won't allow others to install his system so they can sell more.

Fries just needs one large private or federal organization to install his system in order for his invention to really take off. Boyle increasingly adds pressure on Fries to add the safeguards Bruce and Fox needs. If Fries can get the public on his side Bruce Wayne would cave in and have Fries's system in all his buildings.

Wayne Enterprises being the first major private company adopting Fries's system would pave the way for other private major private to follow suit. Falcone and Boyle salivate at the thought of GothCorp to overtaking Wayne Enterprises as the premier cytogenetics company. But why stop there? Falcone wants to push the envelope even further. If Fries has his anti-pollution system in Wayne Enterprises they can use it as a Trojan horse into the computer system so they can slowly bring Wayne Enterprises down. Fries is frustrated that Boyle hasn't adopted Fries's system in GothCorp so why the pressure in forcing Wayne's hand?

Wayne and Fox always back up Thomas's claims and they now have proof that adequate safeguards preventing too much freeze aren't in place. Inspite of what happened many years ago, they do believe in Fries and don't blame him for the Wayne's death. They offer to partner up with GorthCorp and give more money to Fries so he can hire more staff to help him to focus on the safeguards.

Fries has every intent in keeping safeguards in place but his vigor of putting his system in every public and private building first, then assuring the safeguards are in place has turned off Fox and other savvy businessmen. Falcone continues to put pressure on Boyle to turn Fries and Fries is getting more and more agitated.

Although Fries still feels responsible for the Waynes' death the more he gets pressured to bring down Wayne Enterprises the more he puts blame on Thomas Wayne for Fries's predictament. If Thomas only listened to Victor, Victor would be working for a Thomas Wayne and both would be very much alive and very much successful.

Boyle, Falcone, and even Cobblepot have lost patience with Victor. Victor won't work on the safeguards. The crime bosses decide to use Cobblepot's hotels, other businesses and vehicles as the first prominent organization Fries needs to gain validation. The safeguards won't be in place yet but if an upstanding businessman like Cobblepot raves about the system, maybe Wayne will cave in. The bosses will make Fries a very rich man but will still take most of his earnings to fund their organizations. They dream of Wayne Enterprises losing more money than it makes and then have the ultimate setup to bring Wayne down. They will burn Wayne Enterprises to the ground and make it look like Bruce did it to collect insurance. Cobblepot will swoop in and take over the property and build a bigger and better Iceberg Casino and Lounge.

Just after Fries installs his system into all of Cobblepot's buildings, Cobblepot gives the Frieses a free weekend at the Cobblepot Hotel so they could celebrate their 10 year wedding anniversary. In the middle of the night Chill and Killer Croc abduct the Frieses. They are taken through the sewers under the hotel and up to a storage room in the cytogenetics lab deep in the sub-floors of Wayne Enterprises. As if the ordeal wasn't enough for Nora, Jones is wearing his scaly wetsuit and croc mask he always wears when entering the sewers which really freaks her out.

Fries is forced to devote all of his time on making his system to Fox's and Wayne's specifications. This means he must give up on the premise that only he can install and service his systems. His team of assistants now must be giving the go ahead to do everything Fries does. The Frieses are forced to remain in lab 24/7 but Chill can go throughout the building to get Victor whatever he needs. Thanks to Frank DeVito, everything remains undetected by Fox and Wayne. Bruce still has no idea Chill has been released.

Gordon gets wind from his friend, ADA Harvey Dent that Chill has been released and is working with Falcone. Dent doesnt know what exactly Chill is doing for Falcone. Gordon wrestles with the decision to tell Bruce or not. Even though Bruce just turned 30, Gordon wonders if he can handle the news that his parents' murderer is out of prison. Jim recalls the lessons that Bruce's dad taught Bruce. Jim feels soon he will bring Bruce to that fork in the road and Bruce's reaction to Chill be out of prison will define him.

Jim and Alfred meet Lucius in his office. Gordon starts off by saying he feels it's a good time to tell Bruce about Chill and possibly the "inheritance" Thomas left for Bruce that they are safely guarding and preparing for Bruce.

One night Nora and Victor are sick of her being kept in a room full of live diseases and being guarded by a man that swims around in disease infested sewers. Victor and Chill then begin to fight. Vials explode all over Nora and she instantly gets deathly sick. Croc and Chill quickly bring Fries what he needs to stabilize her but they cannot release her to the hospital.

The fight and everything that happened in the lab storage room was a lot for Vito to keep under wraps so the Frieses are moved to GothCorp. Fries still has to work on the safeguards but because he is almost finished, he will now devote most of his time in finding a cure for Nora. He cryogenically freezes Nora until he can find a cure. He uses Killer Croc to break in via sewer to every research facility to steal information, chemicals, anything to further Fries's cause. Since Croc's workload has increased, Fries now also has to answer to Croc's boss, the Penguin.

Boyle feels Fries is spending too much time on Nora. Boyle thinks all Fries needs is a few more hours to finish the safeguards. Just as Fries thinks he has the cure, Boyle, confronts Fries. Tension that was building for years between them finally comes to the surface. In an act of rage Boyle destroys everything Fries was working on for his wife. This causes an explosion of spare cryogenic gas canisters used to keep Nora alive to shower Victor. He realizes what has happened to him and instantly wraps his freezing hands around Boyle. Boyle manages to blurt out if Fries kills him Falcone will make sure Fries's last few breaths will be spent watching Nora's body being incinerated. Both men realize they need the other man alive.

Fries loosens his grasp and crawls away heading towards the walk in freezer. Boyle looks at him in disgust and says he wants him out of his building. He will find him a private place where he can still work on Nora's cure, finishing safeguards to his system for Wayne Enterprises and somehow keeping himself alive but he demands the safeguards be done in a week.

The Penguin offers Boyle one of his warehouses by the docs to keep the Frieses and everything Victor needs to work on his system and find a cure for Nora and himself. Chill brings Fries equipment from GothCorp and Wayne Enterprises. Fries develops a suit that keeps his body temperature what it needs to be for him to remain alive. Included with the suit is a 5 ft gun. It is more advanced than the little freeze guns he used on his system. Boyle, Chill, and Croc think it's just for his research but Freeze made it much more powerful. He also secretly adds flame throwing and ammo shooting capabilities to the gun. When Boyle destroyed all hope for Nora's cure he also killed everything decent within Victor.

Victor finishes the safeguards but now fully sees the concern Fox, Thomas and Bruce have. But as he thinks of Thomas in particular, Victor gets more enraged. If Thomas only listened to him none of this would have happened. And if Bruce didn't create such a scene the Waynes would have not left and then be killed. Fries thinks how ironic it is that Chill killed Bruce's parents and virtually killed Victor's wife. He will kill Chill when this is over and just as Wayne will be undoubtedly so Fries his gratitude, Fries will take down Wayne Enterprises. Bruce won't see it coming.

Victor knows he eventually would have won Thomas over, but Bruce ruined that. Falcone, Boyle, Penguin and Loeb never wanted Bruce to die but simply use him as a pawn for their interests. But screw them. Bruce must die, just like his parents and maybe even Nora.

Chill killed Bruce's parents after they left Victor, but the chill from Victor's gun would kill Bruce. He knew at some point their paths would cross as Victor followed Falcone's plan but the plan would be derailed when he kills Bruce and Wayne Enterprises.


End file.
